I'm thinking of changing my hull maintenance regime.

What expreiance do people have of in water cleaning of their hulls?

Is this better than antifoul?

How often do you need to get a diver to clean the hull?

How much is it to get the boat cleaned by a diver?

What are the benefits and disadvantages with in water cleaning?

Your feedback is appreciated.

John

I antifoul and some times I hire a diver to scrub in between lift out . I did that before motoring around to western port from Port phillip bay
Usually a few boats around where I moored get it done together makes it slightly cheaper $80 last time

You would not even consider no antifouling. If I leave my rib in the water for only a week it will have pin head size barnacles all over it and they are a pain to get off. If your use a good antifouling ag. Micron 66 in Sydney you will get 3 to 4 years. After 2 years you may need to put a diver down every 3 months to keep every thing in good order especially the propeller as after 2 years there would be very little protection left on it.. I have a diver wipe my boat down every 8 weeks at $120.00 a hit.

Jodee that depends on where you are moored i used micron last year in the bay I am moored in we antifoul every year. I have it dived on after about 3 months then slowly get more regular down to 4 weeks by the time i get antifouled again. The bay operside ours is much better. I put it down to more water movement and sandy bottom where my bay is mud.
So there is no general rule as to how often.
If you want to reduce antifouling get a boat bag.

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twodogs1969 said..
Jodee that depends on where you are moored i used micron last year in the bay I am moored in we antifoul every year. I have it dived on after about 3 months then slowly get more regular down to 4 weeks by the time i get antifouled again. The bay operside ours is much better. I put it down to more water movement and sandy bottom where my bay is mud.
So there is no general rule as to how often.
If you want to reduce antifouling get a boat bag.

I agree, imagin what the boat would look like with no antifouling. It also depends on how much you use the boat.

Yeah I was more pointing out we get nowhere near a couple of years out of a slipping.

If you had no anti-foul you might need to clean your hull every month maybe. Like what Jode said, barnacles and weed can grow fast. Depends how much growth you are willing to tolerate. I myself don't like any since it slows the boat down aside from looking bad.

My boats 35ft and cost was $300 each time I had it diver cleaned.

One good thing about frequent diver hull cleaning is you get your boats undersides checked each time.

A downside is its legally tricky I think. If the diver scrapes off the barnacles thats OK, but if a bit of your hull or old anti fouling paint comes off technically speaking you can get a fine for that.

Antifoul is a must for me.
Because we race, I have a regular diver booked, every month, same as Jode, $120.
18 months was the maximum before re-antifoul on the last boat. The new ride we're due to lift soon as we're just coming up to 12 months, just to see how she is going.

Regards performance:
Our first slip was only in January, so I had a nice clean start. I initially didn't clean her for the first 5 months, and it cost me more than a knot at cruising speed under motor, and over 2 knots under sail. Light air performance suffers the most with a dirty bum, no pointing and sluggish feel.
If you're into club racing and want to be even semi-competitive then a regime like a monthly clean is considered standard.

Cruising is different of course, but for me a clean bum makes all the difference to my sailing experience.
Even with a light green film after a few months , I feel like I'm driving on flat tyres.

As we also race weekly, I get a diver once a month @ $100 a pop. Takes before and after photos, so I get a good idea of where the ant-foul is up to. I schedule for out of water every year regardless, so she can get a good spruce up while out.

As Shaggy mentioned, you notice very quickly if the diver has been late this month.....

Or you could just do it yourself, it would then only cost you time and the cost of the dive compressor with attachments the first time you use it, (hookah hose, regulator, etc.), it would certainly pay for itself in the long run

I like the idea of the hookah Brusk. Be good to get under and have a look whenever you felt
like it, but we've been inundated with jellyfish this year in Pittwater...I'm talking CLOUDS of 'em.
I don't know wether they're stingers tho'. I hope we don't have those little jellyfish they have in QLD,
y'know they're as big as your thumbnail and kill you as soon as you put your foot in the water
for a paddle, brrrrrr.

I clean my boat once a month with a window wiper/squeegee blade. It works perfectly and doesn't interfere with the antifoul. Luckily I can sort of swim year round here in Brisbane and with my boat being small, it's a fairly quick job.

I did an underwater scrape in September, the first time since January. The prop was a barnacle ball and the hull was covered in 5mm thick fur. Inside the fur were millions of tiny shrimps that decided I was their new home. By the time I was finished I was completely covered in them, the underwater equivalent of rolling on an ant nest (without the stings). Checked the prop again on Thursday and there was a half dozen barnacles and the fur was back. Definitely time for a new coat of antifoul and some propspeed.

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Trek said..

If you had no anti-foul you might need to clean your hull every month maybe. Like what Jode said, barnacles and weed can grow fast. Depends how much growth you are willing to tolerate. I myself don't like any since it slows the boat down aside from looking bad.

My boats 35ft and cost was $300 each time I had it diver cleaned.

One good thing about frequent diver hull cleaning is you get your boats undersides checked each time.

A downside is its legally tricky I think. If the diver scrapes off the barnacles thats OK, but if a bit of your hull or old anti fouling paint comes off technically speaking you can get a fine for that.

It's the other way round. Bit of antifoul bloom is ok but there is a nasty fine if your caught scraping off shell.

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Wander66 said..
I did an underwater scrape in September, the first time since January. The prop was a barnacle ball and the hull was covered in 5mm thick fur. Inside the fur were millions of tiny shrimps that decided I was their new home. By the time I was finished I was completely covered in them, the underwater equivalent of rolling on an ant nest (without the stings). Checked the prop again on Thursday and there was a half dozen barnacles and the fur was back. Definitely time for a new coat of antifoul and some propspeed.

Pays to wear a hood when doing that job.,, keeps the sea life out of your ears that can cause you a serious ear infection.

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Ramona said..

Trek said..

If you had no anti-foul you might need to clean your hull every month maybe. Like what Jode said, barnacles and weed can grow fast. Depends how much growth you are willing to tolerate. I myself don't like any since it slows the boat down aside from looking bad.

My boats 35ft and cost was $300 each time I had it diver cleaned.

One good thing about frequent diver hull cleaning is you get your boats undersides checked each time.

A downside is its legally tricky I think. If the diver scrapes off the barnacles thats OK, but if a bit of your hull or old anti fouling paint comes off technically speaking you can get a fine for that.

It's the other way round. Bit of antifoul bloom is ok but there is a nasty fine if your caught scraping off shell.

What is their thinking behind that?? Doesn't make sense to me.

Thanks for your comments.

I was thinkng that in water cleaning had to be done with no anti foul as it would just be wiped off during the cleaning process, and could lead you towards a fine.

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Jolene said..

Wander66 said..
I did an underwater scrape in September, the first time since January. The prop was a barnacle ball and the hull was covered in 5mm thick fur. Inside the fur were millions of tiny shrimps that decided I was their new home. By the time I was finished I was completely covered in them, the underwater equivalent of rolling on an ant nest (without the stings). Checked the prop again on Thursday and there was a half dozen barnacles and the fur was back. Definitely time for a new coat of antifoul and some propspeed.

Pays to wear a hood when doing that job.,, keeps the sea life out of your ears that can cause you a serious ear infection.

Thanks I will wear a hood next time, I was a bit worried about an infection for a couple of days afterwards but apart from the little voice that tells me I should have one more rum every day no other side effects

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cisco said..

Ramona said..

Trek said..

If you had no anti-foul you might need to clean your hull every month maybe. Like what Jode said, barnacles and weed can grow fast. Depends how much growth you are willing to tolerate. I myself don't like any since it slows the boat down aside from looking bad.

My boats 35ft and cost was $300 each time I had it diver cleaned.

One good thing about frequent diver hull cleaning is you get your boats undersides checked each time.

A downside is its legally tricky I think. If the diver scrapes off the barnacles thats OK, but if a bit of your hull or old anti fouling paint comes off technically speaking you can get a fine for that.

It's the other way round. Bit of antifoul bloom is ok but there is a nasty fine if your caught scraping off shell.

What is their thinking behind that?? Doesn't make sense to me.

Rich people get divers to rub down their yacht bottoms regularly so it's unlikely that will ever become illegal. The antifoul bloom is just spent antifoul anyway. They probably would not have time between cleans to get shell. Us plebs scrape off the shell and as it falls the fish gather and feed on it. It would have spent antifoul and some reactivated antifoul on it and it may not be good for the fish. I may scrape off shell occasionally but always do it out of sight of pensioners.
At our local slipway we cannot clean the bottom till the tide recedes past the "Sump". All the shell scraped off we have to pick up and remove and not return it to the water.
I was told the fine for scraping shell on a mooring was $800.

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samsturdy said..
I like the idea of the hookah Brusk. Be good to get under and have a look whenever you felt
like it, but we've been inundated with jellyfish this year in Pittwater...I'm talking CLOUDS of 'em.
I don't know wether they're stingers tho'. I hope we don't have those little jellyfish they have in QLD,
y'know they're as big as your thumbnail and kill you as soon as you put your foot in the water
for a paddle, brrrrrr.

I'm a fan of using my own Hookah to scrub between haulouts. In SA waters, I haul out every 2 years. For the first year there's usually minimal growth and no scrubbing required, or only very gentle scrubbing. For the second year a hull scrub every few months enables me to stretch things out until the next haul-out.

"Under section 120 of the POEO Act it is illegal
to pollute or cause or permit pollution of waters.
Under the Act, ‘water pollution’ includes
introducing anything, including litter, sediment,
fuel, oil, grease, wash water, debris, detergent,
paint, etc. into waters or placing such material
where it is likely to be washed or blown into
waters or the stormwater system or percolate into
groundwater....

Barnacles and growth arent any of the above because they grow there naturally, but anti foul paint is certainly on the list.

Because Im not rich I get my boat diver scrubbed sometimes to stall off the huge cost of slipping and anti-fouling. As do many!!

Once you start hull scrubbing it comes back quicker!

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Trek said..

"Under section 120 of the POEO Act it is illegal
to pollute or cause or permit pollution of waters.
Under the Act, ‘water pollution’ includes
introducing anything, including litter, sediment,
fuel, oil, grease, wash water, debris, detergent,
paint, etc. into waters or placing such material
where it is likely to be washed or blown into
waters or the stormwater system or percolate into
groundwater....

Barnacles and growth arent any of the above because they grow there naturally, but anti foul paint is certainly on the list.

Because Im not rich I get my boat diver scrubbed sometimes to stall off the huge cost of slipping and anti-fouling. As do many!!

So no peeing over the transom peoples

At the risk of sending this thread off centre, I antifouled last February with Amron ABC3 that was left over from a job 10 years ago. It stirred up OK, went on smoothly and so long as I take the boat for a swim every 2 or 3 week there is no slime on the bottom - except for a bit 6 inches from the bow, but I think i must have hit something there. The boat was left on the mooring for 8 weeks but after taking it for a burn up the bay the bottom looks good again.
I also just used Sharpie permanent marker on the prop. I have had such variable results from propspeed I thought it was worth a try. I have run aground 4 or 5 times since and thought I must have sand blasted all the Sharpie off by now, but last time out, a week ago, I still got 5.5 knots at 2000 RPM which is about normal. It'll be interesting to see what the prop looks like when I come out again in February.

I'm going to try the Sharpie pen in a couple of weeks. May as well I have tried everything else except propspeed.

Beaching legs is still on my to do list

HG,
Do you mean the ones in your avatar aren't rectractable?
You're such a handyman, that surprises me. Slacking off you are...

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shaggybaxter said..
HG,
Do you mean the ones in your avatar aren't rectractable?
You're such a handyman, that surprises me. Slacking off you are...

Just hope the boat wont have those legs soon Shaggy. Working towards it any way either December or early January.

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Ramona said..
I'm going to try the Sharpie pen in a couple of weeks. May as well I have tried everything else except propspeed.

I am really tempted to do it too but after all the money I am spending on the current slipping I don't want to have to slip again for at least 12 months.

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cisco said..

Ramona said..
I'm going to try the Sharpie pen in a couple of weeks. May as well I have tried everything else except propspeed.

I am really tempted to do it too but after all the money I am spending on the current slipping I don't want to have to slip again for at least 12 months.

I have used paint, lanolin, stove black and polishing. Polishing was probably the best and it's easy to clean up again in the water. I can reach my prop when snorkeling and give it a scrub and even use a broom from my tender but the folding blades make it awkward. Much easier to use the hookah and take your time cleaning it down. I'm thinking get the prop as shiny as possible by linishing and go crazy with a few Sharpie pens.

Does anyone look under their boat with one of those old fashioned tubes with a glass end.
Were they called bathyscope or something ??. Would be handy to sit in the dinghy and take
an easy look at your prop.